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SONG OP 
SEIMCE 



ICHDICNE 

Chatlcs 
Henw 
Macldtttosn 



A.O 



Tf)3S» 



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Copyrighted 1914 
M. I. STEWART COMPANY 

DULUTH, U. S. A. 



DEC 191314 



yfi-o 



CLA 388905 



3M3 t 



SONG OF SERVICE 



WKo loves must serve; and we wKo love our kind 
Must also serve ^em, serve witK hand and mind: 
nixus only nxQ^ we live not all in vain; 
Mnus onl]? may we hope to live again. 

Dea^ comes to all and only Facts survive; 
Mot one of us may save \xh Soul alive 
Save in and {KrougK 4^e 4iings Ke loved and gave, 
For Service will not follow to {Ke grave. 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



Onken grant us, God of sempiternal youtK, 
To live and love and labor to 4iis TrutK: — 
If Truth indeed it be, as truth it seems 
To us, -who grope in darkness with our dreams. 

But who shall mete 4\e Truth v?ith rule and square 
Saying "This much of Heaven I declare 
And this reject!" — Tomorrow's growing thought 
Will set 4\e wisdom of toda^) at naught. 



3QNG OF SERVICE 



01\e inspiration of today is feci 

WitK all the ancient ^orld Kas done and said; 

And in 4iis baby, suckling at the breast, 

Qlxe wortK or want of Wisdom stands confessed. 

Caesar and Plato, Homer and tKem all 

Rise v?itK our dreamers, witK our drunkards fall; 

All gods and goddesses of Grecian art 

May see {Kemselves in modern counterpart. 



SONG OF SEIWICE 



NotKing indeed was wKolely done in Oain, 
Nothing was done wKicK ma^^ not be again; 
And {Kat wKicK Kalted Rome's imperial lust 
Shall crumble unborn Empires into dust. 

Here is a simple Fact and {here a Law 
And comes a Thought which never was before; 
Yet, ere the Thought becomes a living act, 
It must obey the Law and be 4ie Fact. 



SONG OP SEPyiCE 



So -witK new {Kings createci from tKe old, 
With mountain range on mountain ranges rolled, 
Man mounts among tKe clouds upon a stair 
Leading to KeigKts Ke does not dream nor dare. 

Needs must we plunge KeneatK 4iis flood of tKougKt, 
Bu3> in {Ke market-places or be bougKt, 
Mix "witK tKe crowds, be drunken witK {Keir \?ine, 
Ere v?e can Kope to {Kink ourselves divine. 



SONG OF SERVICE 



We are not gods because tOc cKoose to stand 
Abo^e our kind and will not lend a Kand; 
He onl:? Kas 4ie god-germ in Kis soul 
Who can accept the Struggle as the Goal. 

For each must seek tKe 4ung Kis spmc asks, 
And all are equal v?Ko perform dieir tasks; 
BotK Ke who sings and Ke ^ho tills tKe sod 
Are children of a lalx)r-loving God; 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



WKo gives to eacK an all-suflficient store 
Of His o\Cn natural, unminted ore, 
And fills our spirits witK His sacred jires 
On^at v?e may mold it to our hearts* desires. 

Some fling tke precious gift aside, and die; 
Some mold it carelessly? and all awr^^ 
In Kaste to end tKe toil, nor 4\ink to ask 
If life itself be ended vJitK tKe task. 



SO^G OF SEKVTCE 



And some, me jew, the labor-lo\)ing fevC, 
Ring out 4ieir golden pieces broad and true 
And v?itK tkem liberate tKe souls of men 
niiat He v?Ko ga^e ma^) get His gift again. 

A little landscape, blossom-bordered stream 
W hereon float golden lea\>es and pebbles gleam 
Like jev?els under v?ater and Half Kid: 
God ga\>e the Gold and this the painter did. 



SONG OF SERVICE 



A little Oerse, a blossom of {Ke mind 
To bring Man kinder tKougKts about Kis kind; 
'Tis sKrined forever in tKe Kuman neart! — 
ni\is gift the poet vJrougKt, and played Kis part. 

Some tin:? task to Kelp tKe Race along; 
A loving note of love-inspiring song; 
A toucK of comfort to some bed of pain; 
EacK brings a gift to God, or lives in ^ain. 



SONG OF SEKVTCE 



WKoe<>er does tKe v?ork Ke lo%)es to do 
SKall earn {Kereby v^KerewitK to v?ork anew, 
Odie KigK reward of love-created art: 
A kindly, loving, understanding Heart. 

Nov? once a youtK set out upon a searcK: 
niiru tangled temples, walled v?itK sunny bircK, 
Nev?-Kung witK gems xOKen Morning passed {Kem by, 
Domed over v?itK an opal-tinted sky: 



SONG OF SERVICE 



Qnru dusk^) thickets fragrant witn tne scerit 
Of sleeping flower fairies; on he went 
Yet saw 4iem not, all 'raptured ^itK a name 
Which, oft, he whispered to the shadows: Fame. 

Beneath the brooding skyvJard rushing trees 
Pale forest-flov?ers, tongued h^ a passing breeze, 
Looked up and murmured as he passed above: 
"Who seeketh Fame ma^) win to her {hru Love!" 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



So great an aim, so tri^)ial a sound! — 

UnKeard, Ke crusKed the blossoms to tKe ground 

*NeatK flying Keel as, swift, Ke pressed upon 

ni\e flower-flecked patK wKicK marked wKere Fame 

Kad gone. 

Swift, swift tKe little day, and Fame so swift! — 

He followed wKere ^e purple mountains lift 

OTKeir crimsoned crests, and followed once again 

ni\e flitting footprints downward to tKe plain. 



SONG OF SERVICE 



At lengtK {Key led Kis vJe&rp, lagging feet 
m^ru loft)? gates and Jo\On a crowded street: 
'WKence?" WKitner?" asked tKe cro\Cds; and half 
He answered, "Fame; I follow after Fame." '^^ ^^^"'^ 

"Fame is not Kere/* tKe>) said. "Take sword and sKield 
And seek Ker on tKe flercely-fougKten feld; 
Or in tKe Forum ^ere Ker Name invoke: 
SKe does not dv?ell among us simple folk.'* 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



Fiercely, among tKe rocking ranks of War, 
He sougKt tKe floating plume the leader bore; 
UntoucKed of Dea^, befriended by Kis fate, 
He v?on the goal to find, not Fame but Hate! 

Sadl^), Ke left tKe reeking ranks beKind 

To seek {Ke Forum; gained it but to find 

TKis, graven in tKe marble o<)erKead: 

"Seek not for Fame wKence even Tru4i Kas fled!" 



SONG OP SEKVTCE 



Hope passed a^ay, and, stumbling thru tke door, 
He murmured, "Fame, I seek for ^ee no more!" 
OTKen, ere tke weary) nigkt came drooping down, 
He turned Kim once again towards ^e town. 

Contented no^, since Fame Ke migkt not find. 
He wrought in kindly service wi4\ Kis kind 
Till 4ie3?, in turn, spoke lovingly Kis name 
In {Kat Ke sougKt {Keir good instead of Fame. 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



Swift sped {Ke cla>)s, regretted no\0 no more, 
Until {Ke Peace stood Waiting by Kis door; 
TKen, ere he passed, Lo^e to Kis bedside brought 
A gentle Visitor — the Fame Ke sought. 

AK, toil is more than getting something done! 
Some certain figure totals e-Oerp sum 
And it is ours to find {hat might? whole, 
The true and utter ^alue of a Soul! 



SONG OF SERVICE 



Ho^ oft' true hands must tear 4ieir work apart, 
EacK hand a devil rending at ^e heart! 
And, \Ceeping for 4ie effort spent in ^ain. 
Set to slow ^ork and build all up again. 

Each man must take 4iat heritage of tears 
Laid up against him in forgotten years. 
And brazen chains forged far along {he past 
Shall bind about his brain and hold it fast. 



SONG OF SEPyiCE 



EacK reaps a ^eld Kis hands Kave ne^er so'vJn, 
EacK passes on ^e Harvest to Kis oxCn ; 
But what sKall come of all 4ie seed Ke sov?s, 
Only that God wKo loves, or mocks, Kim knows! 

Will ^^ou not sKov? us, Nameless and UntKougKt, 
WKy we must pa^) for tKings v?e Ka^)e not bougKt; 
WKy bear tKe burden of a distant pain 
And suffer Immortality in \)ain? 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



Ha-^e we not praised to You thru all these years, 
Pra3?eci witK laborious liA)es, witK women's tears, 
Pra^^ed witK tke pick and sKovel, ax and sa^, 
Pra5)ed ^itK our Kands tKat labored under Law? 

Have You forgotten, tKen, or \\a-Oe You slept 
WKile we KaOe prayed in labor, loved and ^ept, 
Waiting for Lo-Oe again and winning Hate; 
Seeking revJard and finding only Fate! 



3QNG OF SEKVICE 



Like fallen angels, passing on a stair, 
We fill our lives v?itK Katred and despair, 
Nor can v?e viev? ^v'itK cool and even eyes 
Save what v?e need not envy or despise. 

Was it for this tKat, from tKe Primal Flame, 
Tou \»?ooed us "witK an unremembered Name? 
Is it for tKis that, tKru tKe ages long, 
Tou lure us "witK a memory of Song? 



SONG OF SEPyiCE 



WKat, does tKe Future Kold so dread a tale 
, You dare not let us glance behind tKe veil 
-I Lest, starting back in Korror and affright, 
* We take wKat Will v?e have and end it quite ! 

Or does it veil so sweetly fair a place 
ni\at we, -wKo weep and v?in it for the Race, 
Could not endure that those whom we must bear 
I Should gain a Heaven that M?e may not share! 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



— WitKin our souls, we know we were not tkrust 
Unasked into tKese homes of stellar dust ; 
We knov? Kow long we sougkt tKe boon in vain 
As, once departed, xOe sKall do again ! 

An, tKink ! In the wide emptiness of Space, 
Mne eager runner forced to v?atcK tKe Race, 
SKut in by walls more ^)ision-free than glass, 
With but one guarded gate thru which to pass! 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



Would Ke not melt tKe watcKer ^itK Kis tears, 
Pour out Kot, passionate pleadings in Kis ears 
Until Ke felt tKat voice Ke could not kno^, 
linlatcKed tKe gate and let tKe weeper go? 

No Kuman life v?as e^)e^ Kalf so stern 
ni\at Ke, v?Ko could remember, would return 
Into tKat Kell of MotKingness, once more 
To "watcK tKe life Kis soul must clamor for. 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



AK, wKo can tKink the wkite-Kot soul gro^^s mute 
In tKe decaying flesKments of tKe brute? 
ni\is was tKe Kand wKere\»?itK Kis Seed was sown, 
To ripen in a mind not all Kis o^n. 

So tKe wKole world grows Keav>) witK men's tKougKt; 
Not only in tKe tKings tKeir Kahds Kave wrougKt, 
'TKe fluted stone, tKe can?en marble scrolls, 
But in tKe dreams tKat slumbered in tKeir souls. 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



I tkink tKe lufe of ancient, dreaming lands 
Lies not so mucK in work of vanished hands 
As in a certain consciousness in mind 
Of silent thoughts that live along the wind. 

Ah, the dear dreams, the melodies, the tears, 
Blent in this chalice of seven thousand years ! 
Hov? the slo-v? Vine strained up towards the light 
To bear these grapes whereof ^e drink tonight! 



SONG OF SERVICE 



Lo, tKe NvKite cups tKat lie around tKe root, 
Stained witK tKe purple fragrance of tKe fruit. 
Brimmed once v?itK mingled v?ine of Love and Lust 
And now tKe:? K^ forgotten in tKe dust. 

WKat, sKall I weep for tKem as made in vain 
WKile tKe Kot wine tKe>l Keld leaps to m}? brain! 
HavV tKey not earned tKeir rest? — TKeir task is done 
And lo, nev? grapes are ripening in tKe sun! 



SONG OF SERVICE 



Press me new grapes, and twine about my brow 
niie lea-Oes of all tke Pasts tkat make tke Now ; 
niiis very Vine wKicK yields itself today 
Roots in the myriad mould of such as they ! 

When the last drop drips from my empty cup 
And when the thirsty Vine has drawn it up 
Shall I begrudge the heritage of Then 
And bid ne^ grapes brim my old cup again? 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



Or sKall I hope that some discerning Guest 
Will tkink my cup more precious than tKe rest, 
Bear it avJay and set it on some sKelf 
Because it held tke wine tKat was myself? 

Press me new grapes: sufficient to my task 
niiat I ma5> offer drink to all wKo ask. 
I sKall not need refilling or a sKrine 
For I sKall li'Oe in {Kem fKat drink m>> v?ine. 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



PerKaps 4iat One wKo builded in {Kis vast 
So spent His soul in building, and so passed 
Into 4ie {Kings He made, 4ierein to breed 
Ql\at Future wKicK v?e mortals stride to read! 

And shall tKe part elucidate tke WKole? 
Can one ten-trilliontK of {Ke Cosmic Soul 
Gather 4ie thoughts of countless worlds unknovJn 
And bid {hem center in himself alone? 



SONG OF SEKVICE 



A single tiny Tru^K we mortals know: 
^TKat all flings die when {\\ey Ka^e ceased to grow, 
nixen must not He wKo made 4iat Law, obey 
And win, ^ru travail, freedom from decay? 

If tKis be Truth, tken we wKo, toiling, fare 
Along tKis road wKicK leads us Otherwhere, 
Toil for the growth that God ma>> gain thereby 
And weep because our gods have grown a^rp ! 



SONG OF SEKVICE 




i^=r-^ 



: PRESS of: 

M-I-STEWM 
COMPANY 

DULUTH 
. USA- 



